Friday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: How High is Landen Roupp's Ceiling Against the White Sox?
Six starting pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
How often do you have unpopular opinions? It seems like a daily thing for me. The most recent example is this whole situation surrounding Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte. In case you're unfamiliar, a few days ago, Marte was playing in Chicago against the White Sox, and a Chicago fan yelled something about Marte's mother to taunt him.
Unbeknownst to the fan, Marte's mother died in a car crash about eight years ago. It's a tragedy, to be sure, and I'd guess this fan wouldn't have said anything if he knew the full story (though who knows?). Marte began crying on the field later after the incident, and that fan was ejected and has now been banned from all MLB stadiums.
I guess my main issue is: are we being serious here? Heckling is a normal practice in sports, and the fan didn't use a slur or physically put Marte in danger by throwing something or approaching him. Bad taste? Absolutely. Feel shame? For sure. But to make a league-wide issue out of a “Yo Momma” joke? Let's be real.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it seems like social media sides with MLB and Marte, but let's stop pretending that words are weapons and remember what we tell our kids: sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you. I don't say all this to encourage everyone to go out and insult each other's mothers, but we must have some perspective when looking at events like this, and everyone has gone way over the top in this situation.
With that out of the way, let's look at six starting pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable pitchers. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
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Aaron Civale, Chicago White Sox vs. San Francisco Giants
Landen Roupp, San Francisco Giants @ Chicago White Sox
We have two matchups today of streaming pitchers against each other who both have good matchups, creating something of a streaming Christmas for me. Chicago is the worst team in the American League and a clear bottom-five offensive unit. San Francisco is better (they almost have to be), but they are still a bottom-10 team, ranking in that range in pretty much every offensive box stat, only excelling in walks.
Civale was recently traded from the Brewers, where he had lost his spot in the rotation and requested a trade. Be careful what you wish for: Civale was moved from a team currently nine games over .500 to one that set the record for most losses in a season last year and isn't doing much better in 2025. Civale has been a mostly average pitcher in his career, but he has labored this season; there's a reason he lost his starting spot in Milwaukee.
Roupp is a good strikeout pitcher who also has control issues at times, a profile that has worked for him in his short career (19 starts, 19 relief appearances, and 126 1/3 innings). One of his biggest benefits has been not allowing home runs, as he has given up just nine (one every 14 innings, a phenomenal rate that will come down as he gets more time under his belt).
Civale is a low-level streamer and Roupp a mid- to high-level streamer. The former not only has struggled but also has a bad aura right now; I'm staying away. Roupp, on the other hand, has done well in his short time and has one of the best matchups in the league in this one.
Jake Irvin, Washington Nationals @ Los Angeles Angels
Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels vs. Washington Nationals
Our second matchup of weak offensive teams sees the Nationals traveling across the country to LA, putting two teams together with a combined record of 73-88. The Angels are a little better, sitting at .500, but they might also be worse offensively, excelling in home runs but near the bottom everywhere else, including the second-most batter strikeouts behind the Rockies. Washington pushes closer to the middle, but they are probably still a bottom-10 offensive unit who can be targeted.
Irvin jumped onto my radar last season, when he became close to an average strikeout pitcher while cutting his walks by about four percentage points to a better-than-average level. His Ks are back down this year, but his walks have held steady; now he just needs to give up fewer homers (16 in 94 2/3 innings this season).
Soriano is close to average with strikeouts, but he walks too many guys. It hasn't hurt a ton because he has been very good limiting both hits and home runs. That's a profile that can help a pitcher be successful, especially later in his career when the velocity drops and Ks go with it.
Irvin is a low- to mid-level streamer and Soriano a mid-level streamer. They are both decent guys to consider in the right matchups and today is a day in which either (or both) could have a good game.
Dustin May, Los Angeles Dodgers @ Kansas City Royals
I have a tendency to overrate players and expect too much, so I've been really trying to hold back on giving glowing recommendations to too many pitchers. Yesterday, that meant calling Clayton Kershaw a “low- to mid-level streamer” because the matchup was great against the Rockies, but he isn't the Kershaw of old anymore; he threw six innings and gave up just two hits and one run while striking out five.
May isn't Kershaw, and he never will be, but he is average or a little better in his career with both walks and strikeouts, and he has been a good pitcher at his best, albeit with short runs every season: May's 78 2/3 innings this year are 22 2/3 more than any previous season in his big-league career. Health and fatigue are a concern, but May is a feasible fantasy pitcher with the right matchup here.
Every day the Royals are on the streaming list, I talk about their lack of power, including fighting with the Pirates for the fewest home runs in the league. Four Royals have eight or more home runs, and no one else has more than four. That means only four hitters on the team are hitting even one home run every 10 games. That won't cut it, and it's a major reason why KC is five games under .500.
May is a mid-level streamer. Maybe I'm overcorrecting from yesterday, as Kansas City doesn't strike out, setting a lower ceiling, but this is a good pitcher against a weak offensive team, a positive outlook for fantasy purposes.
Jose Quintana, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Colorado Rockies
Speaking of those Rockies, they continue on a road trip, making them a prime target. Not only are the Rockies putrid in every box stat, but they also lead the league in most batter strikeouts. My favorite streamers are those pitchers who strike guys out; it gives you multiple avenues toward having a successful fantasy game. On the flip side, teams that strike out a lot present that level for the opposing pitcher, setting them up for a nice day.
Quintana's career numbers are those of a highly sought-after pitcher: average or better with both walks and strikeouts, ERA under 4.00, and fewer hits allowed than innings pitched. His hit and run prevention are still good this season, but Quintana is several percentage points worse than average in walk rate and far below average in strikeout rate. At 36 years old, Quintana has surely lost something, and it might just be a matter of time before it catches up to him, but he is hanging on as a valuable player this year.
Quintana is a low- to mid-level streamer. Where Kershaw was a former ace who is now an OK pitcher, Quintana was a very good pitcher at times but never sniffed a Cy Young, settling in as more of a reliable arm who did big things at times. Because of that, I'm going to give him the same designation I gave the Dodgers' veteran yesterday, especially since Quintana's K% has tanked.
Friday's Streamer Rankings
- Landen Roupp, SF
- Dustin May, LAD
- Jose Soriano, LAA
- Jose Quintana, MIL
- Jake Irvin, WSH
- Aaron Civale, CWS
